Tao crouched down to the hysteric girl crying on his bedroom floor. He was hesitant to touch her let alone go near her. The current state that Saya was in terrified him for he had never encountered anything like this except in the movies he watched.

Hesitantly, he called out to her in hopes to snap her out of this…lunatic-like trance. “Saya…” He starts of slowly, not wanting to be abrupt in the way he handles her. “Stop… please, stop.” Tao continues in a rather shaky manner. It was not what he had intended for, but it will do.

Tao places his hands on Saya’s shaking shoulders sternly but tenderly. Saya’s shaking body calms down a bit, but small trembles here and there tells Tao to continue.

“I-I need you to stand up. Can you stand up for me, Saya?” He asks as if she were an  

Saya weakly nods. She slowly stands up with the help of Tao.

~*~*~

The two families have gathered in the kitchen before having to separate. Tao and Saya keep quiet as the adults talk. They stick close together, a bit shaken from the traumatic incident from earlier. Both seem sickly pale, but surprisingly their parents hadn’t noticed the strangeness of their behavior for they are too focused on their own little conversation to care about Tao and Saya.

Saya turns mute, uttering not a single sound. Her mind is in an empty haze. She stares at nothing but her reflection on the kitchen window in front of her. She stares at the lifeless being with soulless eyes looking back at her. Pass the dead reflection and out the window, something catches Saya’s attention. Outside in the cold autumn night, a foot away from the kitchen window, It watches Saya. Even with It watching her, Saya does not even flinch nor show a single emotion. Saya’s head is filled with nothing but darkness; it was as if she was injected with some type of experimental drug, paralyzing her mind and body.

“Do you want some cake, Saya?” Her mother asks. Saya hears nothing. “Saya?” Her mother calls out to her, anxiously worried about her unresponsive daughter.

Tao notices Saya’s quietness. Tao thinks to himself for a moment, wondering about the things going on in the little girl’s head. He looks at the still girl before nudging her. It takes a couple of seconds before Saya snaps back to reality and by then, It disappears from her sight. Saya’s stomach swirls and swirls, giving the girl a sort of ominous feeling. She blinks continuously in a faster-than-normal speed, with an expression that almost resembles a person high on drugs.

“Saya.” This time her mother’s voice breaks through this imaginary barrier that had prevented Saya from hearing the loud, adult chatters.

Saya looks up to Tao, blankly staring at him for a few seconds before moving her attention to her mother. “Yes?” She asks in a barely audible voice.

The lights turn off along with all the home appliances.

A power outage strikes the neighborhood, leaving many in the dark.

The clatter of kitchen utensils hitting the ground gives Saya a little heart attack. Dead silence soon follows…

Tao’s father speaks up, assuring everyone that everything is going to be all right. After his little speech, the lights coincidently turned back on, happily surprising everyone in the kitchen. “See…” He says, feeling a little too proud of himself.

Saya’s eyes take a little time to adjust. She looks at everyone before looking back at her reflection in the kitchen window. Her eyes round up as a silent gasp escapes through her open mouth.

It is no longer outside. It is standing behind her.

~*~*~

At a mental institute in China, screams coming from a particular patient ruin the silence. The patient’s body thrashes as the nurses try to hold her body down. Quickly, as to not lose their hold on her, the pair of nurses straps the patient’s limbs to the bed, though the screaming still continues.

A man in his early thirties appears in front of the same aged woman strapped down onto her bed. He looks at her, apparently unhappy about his patient’s behavior.